“There,” he barked at Mason, the sharp word a racket in the otherwise silent room. The air throbbed with awkwardness. “How does it feel to get your wife back covered in another man’s seed? Hope you’re happy, because after letting me use her like that I sure fuckin’ am.”
Sean’s words were cruel, intended to wound, but there was no mistaking the way his voice cracked at the end of his statement, the last word coming out in a hoarse whisper. His words were a lie. His lips pressed together and his glassy eyes flickered under his blond lashes. He suddenly turned and stormed out of the room.
Liberty said not a word. After the door slammed and Sean left, she looked at him and he sighed. “Are you okay?”
“He’s upset.”
“Yes,” Mason agreed. “Why don’t you go take a shower and a nap? I’ll be up soon to lay with you and we’ll talk about all this. Sound good?”
Liberty nodded and slowly began to stand. He could tell her muscles were already growing stiff. Mason stood and helped her off the floor. Looking into her eyes he gently caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I love you, Liberty. Sean has some demons of his own to deal with. He’ll never disrespect you like that again.”
“I know he didn’t do it on purpose. He was trying to make us give up on him. I don’t want to give up on him. Do you? He needs someone to love him, Mason.”
Mason smiled. His sweet little wife. “No, Lib, I don’t want to give up on him. He doesn’t have to trust our arrangement from the beginning, but he also cannot abuse it.”
It suddenly occurred to him that she may be hiding some sort of shame behind her concern for Sean. He trailed his finger through the moisture coating her tummy. “You were wonderful, Lib. You’re such an impressively strong woman. I’m proud of you.”
She smiled under his praise and he leaned down to kiss her gently. She sighed and relaxed into his hold. Mason made sure to show complete acceptance of what she had done. He didn’t approve of the cutting words Sean had chosen, but he understood why he tried to be cruel. So did Liberty, thankfully.
He pulled away slowly. “Give me about an hour and I’ll be up. Try to get some rest before I get there.” She nodded and gathered her belongings then left him alone.
Mason pulled in a hard breath, letting it out on a long sigh. He looked back at the pool table and shook his head. It was going to be a long hour.
Chapter Fourteen
Sean entered the guestroom and slammed the door. He looked down and suddenly realized he was still without pants. His eyes went to the packed bag on his bed. He marched forward and angrily unzipped the duffle and yanked out a pair of jeans. Unbidden, an image of Liberty flashed in his mind, kneeling before him with blind acceptance in her eyes and his mark on her belly.
“Fuck!”
He threw the duffle off the bed and fisted his hands in his hair. Tossing the pants aside he turned and sat on the edge of the bed. He was such a pathetic piece of fucking shit! He needed to think. The door clicked and he looked up to find Mason standing there watching him.
“I’m leaving. I just need to get dressed.”
“Where are you going?” The calmness of Mase’s voice irritated Sean to no end.
“Like you fucking care.”
“Of course I care.”
He scowled at him. “Why? After what I just did, why the fuck would you care?”
“Because I care about you. We care about you.”
“You’re a fucking moron then.”
Mase folded his arms over his chest and casually leaned back into the wall. Sean hated the way he looked at him as if he could see right through all his bullshit.
“What did you think would happen, Sean? If you actually were able to break her will, did you think you would be able to just walk away knowing you hurt her?”
“I did hurt her,” he growled.
Mase shook his head. “She’s stronger than you think. You never did get it. After all this time and all your useless chest thumping, you never did figure it out. Submission, trusting someone enough to let them take the reins, is where the real strength lies. Power’s easy when it’s given without question, with complete trust.”
“She should’ve never trusted me and you shouldn’t have trusted me with her.”
“I don’t regret it.”
“Like I said… moron.”
“You wouldn’t hurt her, Sean. I know you too well to buy into the hardass act. This’ll never work if we can’t be honest with ourselves and each other. How about you being honest with yourself for once? Because we all see you in there hiding from the truth and we love you and accept you, the way you are, not the way you were ‘expected’ to be.”